The barn owl father has been missing since Friday night, Pete DeSimone, ranch manager, said. DeSimone suspects that he is likely dead.

The baby barn owls were hatched earlier this month. Thousands of barn owl fans have watched the baby chicks begin to eat, grow and nestle with their siblings. Many are calling for intervention and help for the chicks.

Pete DeSimone, ranch manager at the Audubon sanctuary in Bell Canyon, has started help provide supplemental food for the baby owls. He is apprehensive about the intervention. "Pete, thank you for the thoughtful explanation of what is being done to help and the reasons why it needs to be handled this way," Dale, a commenter on the owl cam site, posted.

Baby owls are scrambling for food since their father has gone missing. Starr Ranch biologists are providing supplemental food.

Pete DeSimone climbs the ladder at the 100-foot eucalyptus tree and has brought mice and roadkill to the barn owl nest to help supplement the food.

Pete DeSimone banded barn owl babies in 2011. The missing father from this year's nest was banded in 2003. DeSimone said the owl is at least 9 years old.

Pete DeSimone uses cameras to monitor what the owl cam shows. In the past when a chick has been in distress, avid owl cam viewers have called on DeSimone to intervene. He is still unsure about helping with food supplements for the chicks.

The first hatchling from six eggs laid by a female barn owl at the Starr Ranch sanctuary in Trabuco Canyon.

BELL CANYON – Owl cam viewers following the lives of baby barn owls that hatched earlier this month at the Starr Ranch are calling the disappearance of the father owl tragic but applaud ranch staff for helping supplement food.

The baby birds, visible minute-by-minute on the owl cam perched in a cavity inside a 100-foot-tall eucalyptus, have been watched by the thousands since the first egg was laid Dec. 6.

Each of the six hatchings has been celebrated, and the death of the youngest chick on Sunday was watched with sadness by many. But what has drawn the most alarm is this weekend’s disappearance of the father owl. Nature experts believe his absence is due to injury or death.

He was last seen last week making prey drops to the hungry chicks. Often gone throughout the day, he regularly brought wood rats, mice and even a small opossum during nightly feedings.

On Friday owl cam viewers worldwide and ranch staff began worrying when they didn’t see him arrive with prey Friday night. Seventy-two hours later, he still hadn’t surfaced, and in response to pleas by viewers, Pete DeSimone, ranch manager, began to provide food for the mother owl to feed her babies.

“It’s an impossible situation,” DeSimone said. “Right now she needs to be in the cavity to keep them warm. She can’t leave them for longer times. Because she’s doing that she’s losing hunting time. Last night she came back with only one mouse. That’s enough for the biggest chick to eat by himself.”

DeSimone, who has set up the owl webcam for the past three years to give nature lovers an up-close and personal glimpse of barn owl life, said the decision to intervene is a difficult one.

“The supplemental food I’ve provided is something I’m extremely reluctant to do, notwithstanding it’s not that easy to do,” DeSimone posted on the owl cam site. “Those who have been watching for the last few years know that I have said numerous times that I would not intervene – the only difference between this nest and tens of thousands of other nests is that we get to watch. And in this case we’re seeing what can happen when things don’t go as smoothly as we would like them to.”

DeSimone also wants owl cam viewers to understand the difference between intervention and interaction.

“When I clean a lens and band the chicks, I’m interacting with them in a way that is nothing more than a short change in their routine and has no lasting effect on their overall behavior,” he said. “Supplemental feeding changes the outcome of their lives and affects not only them but other barn owls and wildlife in the area.”

On Tuesday night, DeSimone made his fourth prey drop but it’s only biding time, he said.

Options to help the chicks include finding a foster nest somewhere in 13,000-acre Bell Canyon. DeSimone and other biologists have spent half-days looking for other barn owl nests. Ideally, the nests would have only a few chicks close in age to the partially-orphaned chicks. If there are too many already in the foster nest, adding the other chicks could cause both clutches to die, he said.

DeSimone has also gotten offers from wild bird rehabilitation centers such as South Bay Wildlife Rehab in Rancho Palos Verdes and Project Wildlife in San Diego.

“You might be able to rehab a chick until it’s seven or eight weeks old and can fly,” DeSimone said. But you let it go and it’s pretty much a death sentence. It’s got nothing to keep it going while it learns to hunt. In a normal setting the parents give the chicks supplemental support while the chicks develop their hunting skills.”

Owl cam viewers have peppered Dr. Scott Weldy, a Lake Forest veterinarian who treats many birds of prey and wildlife in Orange County, with emails asking for help for the chicks. Weldy agrees with DeSimone and is working with him to find a foster nest. He said the only way to give them a chance is by fostering them to another nest or even dividing them among several so the foster parents are not overloaded.

“Removing and hand-rearing the babies is not a viable option,” Weldy said. “If you feed them they think you’re mom and dad, and in a couple of days, they’re imprinted. They’ll think people are cool and they won’t know they’re owls.”

Erika Ritchie reports on South Orange County coastal communities, military issues and Camp Pendleton for the OC Register. She explores everything from coastal access, environmental issues and marine life to city government, animal welfare and quality of life. She’s won many awards including first place in news (2016) by the Orange County Press Club for her coverage of record numbers of whale entanglements off the California coast. Erika’s covered military change of command and seen military affairs firsthand from the sea aboard a battleship, air from a MV-22 Osprey, and land including Pendleton’s International war games and San Clemente Island’s ordnance ranges. Journalism allows Erika’s penchant for telling human stories of conflict, struggle and joy. Her monthly Everyday Hero feature does just that, highlighting achievements of some of Orange County’s most dedicated volunteers and non-profit leaders. Since joining the Register in 2001, she’s at times covered every city in South Orange County delving into development, housing, transportation, county government and social issues. She’s often written about Saddleback Church and Pastor Rick Warren’s emerging national and global roles. Erika’s passionate about animals and outdoor adventure. She runs, stand-up paddles and skis - both alpine and x-country. She frequents Mammoth Lakes and Mountain for hiking, biking & skiing and for her dogs to frolic in the snow and lakes. She grew up bilingual in German and conversational in French.

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